What a thing to say.

Label Appreciation Society is reconvening with # 12 in a (3-way tie) Random Postings.

The label random postings could easily be placed on 40 % of my posts. I am in my very nature random. However, I have saved this label for the truly random like my post about alternate names for our home school or when I solicited opinions about keeping my beard or shaving it off, or my classic April 1 2009 post how High Fructose Corn Syrup works for me.

Today's random post is about a cocktail party game that Amy and I made up called what a thing to say. In the spirit of full disclosure, I must admit that between Amy and myself we have attended a total of zero cocktail parties. I mean we're only in our forties, we're pacing ourselves. I just imagine it's a game that would go over well at cocktail parties. We play it at social gatherings like weddings, wakes, funerals, reunions the sort of thing where much small talk will occur.

The way we play is like this. Before the EIQ (Event in Question) one of us thinks a phrase that the other person has to say and the # of different times they have to say it. They are not supposed to reveal that they are playing a game and just work it into conversations. In November of 1997, Amy and I were recently engaged and were at my grandfather's wake. This is the first time I remember playing. I gave Amy the phrase "People don't floss as much as they used to." She played it like a champ. One year at Christmas with Amy's side of the family I was to use the phrase "the all-mighty dollar" and I just kept bringing it up into conversation and no one other than Amy had any clue that it was all pre-arranged.

Other phrases soon followed like "I don't like (whoever had just been mentioned) they supported the war movement" this was funny at the time because it was the late 90's and there was really no war movement to support. We still laugh when we remember Amy telling her Aunt that she doesn't like Oprah Winfrey because she "supported the war movement." Especially when her aunt thought Amy had made it up just then.

What a thing to say has not been all that popular with us in the past 8-10 years as we have both been to family parties where we don't remember having any conversations because we were so busy herding children. Now that our children are becoming a little more self regulating it may become a game we play more often. Maybe at our first cocktail party.

Next Time: The return of 7 word September

A Bunny Surprise

Today's post is another look at the top 25 labels of Home School Dad (Through post 300)

Label # 15 Our Bunny Girl

Our Bunny Girl is a label I use when blogging specifically about our oldest daughter. Today is a special day as we are celebrating her birthday early; she turns 11 on Thursday and the party is today. The thing is, she doesn't know about it yet.
Homeschool Dad's Wife here: Dave and Emma are at the White Sox game enjoying "Frank Thomas" Day, where they are retiring his number. We are expecting Emma to walk in around 6:15 pm, amid family and friends. She historically hasn't done well with parties at our house. She anticipates, plans, gets all excited, then has a total melt-down when the time comes. We were hoping that the element of surprise will help her just enjoy all the attention for a short while, then she can go and read in her room if she wants to. She is a beautiful, smart, sweet young lady, and we are so thankful to the Lord for sending her to us at just the right time, almost 11 years ago.

Six Word Saturday

http://www.sixwordsaturday/ hosts this really awesome meme called Six Word Saturday:

My 6: My computer ate my blog post.

Last night I wrote an informative yet somewhat boring post for 6 word Saturday about my youngest daughters sickness, my son's new soccer team and my upcoming visit to a Chicago White Sox game with my daughter.

This morning I woke up and tried to link the meme to this post and while my post was still intact on my blog, when I went to edit it, it was entirely blank.

So I had a choice leave the post alone and not link it back to Six Word Saturday or blow it up and start over. In cheer leading parlance: I blew it up, blew it up, blew it way up.

None of this makes an awful lot of sense to me, my blog posts usually don't pull a disappearing act. For more Six Word mysteries and mayhem click here.

Next Time: A label for lagomorphs

Vacation Pics

Next Time: Six Word Saturday. For more Wordless Wednesday (all week long)click here.

The panorama of homeschooling

It's carnival of homeschooling time again and I am serving as your host. I just discovered recently that our digital camera has a panorama setting. It allows you to take up to 3 shots and it will automatically blend the image into one shot.

I recently took a picture of some items on our kitchen counter.

I then took a picture of each individual item and combined them in the panorama setting.








I have decided that this week's carnival will look at the panorama that is home schooling. I will intersperse the fine posts offered by fellow bloggers with panorama shots I have taken with my camera since my discovery of the setting.

To get us started Rhonda Miller of Time4learning offers up some beginning of the school year encouragement in Extreme Makeover - The Homeschool edition. So move the bus and head on over there.

Our next post is from Jennifer Lavender of Princess Momma. She introduces a new feature of her blog in Home School Answers. What's it all about? Need I say more?

Alasandra of Alasandra's Homeschool blog says You are not a homeschooler if you send your child to public or private school.






I asked each of my children to run towards me and as they did I took their picture and combined it here. My kids all responded to that task differently. One aspect of the panorama of homeschooling is the many different types of students it involves.

Sandy Davis talks about dealing with students who are creative, easily bored and highly distractable in Sizzlers at Falling Like Rain.

Jennifer presents How To HomeSchool PreSchool - What I Have Learned posted at HomeGrownMommy.

Mama Squirrel presents Another year of boxes, bins, notebooks: trying not to duplicate posted at Dewey's Treehouse.

Deana shares a Lesson Plan Outline for A-Beka at The Frugal Homeschooling Mom.

This is a panoramic view of spider droid's first horseback ride. It kind of looks like clones on horseback.

Speaking of nature, (You might not have known we were, just try to keep up.) Laura Grace Weldon of her eponymous blog www.lauragraceweldon.com says: "Consider making a nature study of something nearby. A tree's lifestyle through the seasons, the activity around a wasp nest in the eaves, the behavior of birds at a feeder." Interested? read her fine piece entitled How to make spiders your teachers, trees your guides.

NerdMom presents A Day in the Life posted at NerdFamily Blog.

E-mom shares 13 Bible Trivia Questions: Patriarchs and Matriarchs at Chrysalis. She says: Test yourself first. Then test your kids. I Say: There are no questions about the Noaharchs.

Sebastian of Percival Blakeney Academy shares their plan for music appreciation focusing on pieces written for and about children in Music Appreciation - Children's Music.








I am not the only one in the family taking panorama shots. Last weekend the girls were sick and we took the t.v. out of theoretical mothballs and put on Star Trek Generations. My son snapped these pics near the end of the film. I like it because the height of the pictures gives the illusion of 3 different televisions all showing Star Trek at the same time.

The next section will feature the various "treks" that our intrepid home school explorers have made. Starting off is Kim at Homeschool Peeps with a couple of firsts. Our Summer of Learning: Part I is the first of hopefully many posts "dedicated to sharing the fun and educational experiences" they had this summer. It is also their first submission to the carnival.

Lizzie at a Dusty Frame takes us on a trip to an art museum for an "amazing visit with" La Donna Velata, The woman with the veil - Raphael.












The next panorama is pure genius. Word Girl (Word Up!) sandwiched between a sandwich villain (Chuck, the evil sandwich making guy). Word Girl survives to lead us into our next section a panorama of language:



Alphabet

Cristina of Home Spun Juggling presents Home Spun Comic Strip #514 where she begins to unveil her homeschooler's alphabet.

Words
April from Question the Culture presents a post on the power of words to develop our minds in Words, words, words.

Reading Books
The Family presents Once Upon a Family: Book List for Grades 4th - 7th posted at Once Upon a Family.

Understanding Grammar
Nak presents "Why Should Anyone Be Tense About Tense?" posted at Sage Parnassus.

~Kris~ presents Top Ten Ways to Review posted at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Janine Cate of Why Homeschool gives an update on whether Math Counts counts homeschoolers in Banning Homeschool teams - Update.

There are several posts about hopping right back to a new school year.

Jamie Gaddy another blogger from www.time4learning.net shares A peek in my Window.

Now that school has started, Lynn from Electic Education is going to show us what to do when our kids say Mommy I'm Bored. I've never had my kids say that to me, but then again, I am a Home School Dad.

Mrs. C of Homeschool + Etc. poses the question How much do you spend on back to school items?

A question Andrea from Notes From a Homeschooling Mom answers in How much does it cost to homeschool? What we pay. Speaking of paying, I'd like to pay it backward, and say that Andrea did a fantastic job with last week's carnival. Way to go, Andrea, Way to go. Clap. Clap.

Water is more than just to swim in. As Pamela fron Blah, Blah, Blog tells in Well, well, well .... Water Troubles.

Charla Pearen presents High Park Home Daycare: Playdough Recipe posted at High Park Home Daycare.

In the blog Thriving in the 21st Century, Barbara Frank lets us know The Skills Every Worker Needs. She says "Homeschooling gives parents the best chance of raising their children

with the job skills they'll need in the new economy.".

Speaking of the economy, Margaret Simpson of Two Kid Schoolhouse gives her musings on the future of education as she'd like to see it in This is How Education Should Work.

We have come to the end of our panorama of homeschooling. Homeschooling, like the expressions of my children in the above photo, can be painful, thought provoking and goofy, sometimes at the same moment. I hope you take time to read all the fine articles assembled here.

Amy Bayliss is hosting next weeks carnival. To submit an article click here.

Next Time: Wordless Wednesday